Marshall 9001 Tube Guitar Preamp

Plug your guitar in and just adjust the EQ a little and there it is, the familiar Marshall sound. Be patient, you can easily be lost in the EQ-jungle...

I use yamaha and fender guitars.
A Marshall valvestate power amp.
In the stereo effects loop i have a dbx Compressor a Digitech IPS 33 and an Alesis Quadraverb. It sounds just great and I can get most sound. Finally I run the system through a Rocktron Hush which is very good. There is a humming from the lead channel but it is easily whiped out with the hush.

It has never failed me. I have never had any problems with it whatsoever.

I play everything from jazz to heavy metal and this pre-amp does it for me. This is a great pre-amp. I've had it for 15 years and I will keep it for many more. If I lost it I would try to find a new one. But remember it is always up to each listener if they like the sound or not. My brother has a Mesa/Boogie and that sounds like a Boogie. Very nice sound, but this one sounds like a Marshal, a different sound but oh so lovely....

No noisy. I put into it JJ tubes. Warm sound.
I don't use the eq. You can switch on or off the eq from the pedalboard, but with the eq the volume goes down.
If you have inthe lead channel the gain 1 up, your sound is clear, perfect as the channel two.
But if you have up the gain 2 in the lead channel, the sound is muddy.
I have the gain 1 in the maximum, and gain two about 5. Great and clear sound.
NO muddy.
And this preamp sounds as a Marshall. It is a Marshall.

Series 9000. Made about 1990.
I play pop and rock. This preamp has a very good clean sound, a very good Marshall rythm and a very good and ultra gain solo channel.
FX loop, with stereo return.

Never problem

??

I have it for two years.
Great sound and never problems.

I am writing this review becasue I am tired of seeing ridiculous statements about the 'appalling' sound of this unit ... from people who have bought it second-hand and have not replaced the valves. The clean sound of this pre-amp is very transparent. Not surprising as in clean mode it is actually a good quality solid-state pre-amp. Crunch and Lead are exactly what you expect from a Marshall -- provided the valves are in good condiiton -- with a good range of sounds available via the 'voice' and 'drive' settings. Basically if you can't get the overdriven sound you want from this unit then you need devine intervention.

As previously described. Lots of knobs and buttons. I guess separate equalisation for lead channel would be good, but apart from that it has everything I need.

There are always compromises in cramming something into a 1U rack case. I suspect that the pcb mounted jack sockets on the 9001 are going to give up at some point but thus far it has been reliable. Inside it it all very tidy and well put together so should hold up well.

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I've had lots of amps and bought this because I like the versatility of separate pre- and power- amp arrangements. The sound of the 9001 is (to my ears) very similar to the JMP1. I have never got into MIDI controllers so I prefer the 9001 on acocunt of its (relative) simplicity. For what it is, I think its a great product that can be bought very cheap second-hand.

if you follow the surgested settings in the manual you cant fail to get that lush marshall cleen sound but if you turn up the gain 1 on the lead channel to about 7 itl nock you to the floor! reading the outher reveiws pepole are comlaining about the buzz umm .. what buzz? its seams pritty dam quiet to me. there isnt many styles that you cant play it with but louds best!

i brought it about a year ago and its the one of the nicest sounding marshalls i ever played i use a marshall 8000 power amp and 2 marshall cabsand it sounds amazing tho the gain on the rythm channel sucks a bit! i play in a cover band we moastly play stp/pearl jam style stuff its the perfect gain and tube sound for this style, playd with a les paul custom obvoiosly mmmmmm.....

ive playd a few gigs with it and practisd with it to many times to count its been thrown around in the car and nothing has gone wrong a true marshall!

ummm never needed it but i printed the manual of the marshall site

i dnt eva wana have to replace it (only for a mesa/bogie but i cant se that happening anytime soon!)the only thing i can realy complain about is it shouldnt be a rack! i dont have a foot switch witch is a bugger so if anyone knows were i can get one or have one please email me thanx

The sound of the preamp is great. The biggest set back has been between the rhythm and clean channel. Having to compromise the overall level affects both channels. I would have enjoyed more versatility with having each channel independant of each other. At least the voice control is separate but there are major hassles trying to adjust the clean level since the unit has to be out of rack just to make adjustments. I mostly use the clean and rhythm channels. The Lead is a little over the top and good for other styles of music that I don't play anymore.

I've had this preamp since 1991 and have enjoyed its use ever since. The effects loop is great! I use a Roland SE50 and have had no trouble with the two since. I've gone thru various stages of tones and 9001 has been a trooper. The biggest drawbacks are the combinations used with this preamp. I first started using this preamp with a Carver mosfet power amp. Bad choice - I had to use the cabinet simulator to get me the beef I needed. I tried it with the Marshall power amp 9004 - no deal, very weak sounding. I then found a Peavey 50/50 tube power amp - Oh boy what a difference! I didn't need the cabinet simulator anymore and turned it off. The 50/50 has a the resonance and presence control that made the 9001 sing. I get my classic Marshall sound and other great combinations only a tweak away.

I haven't had much problems with this preamp other than my on/off switch. I opened the unit up and resoldered the broken solder joint on the board and the unit has been great ever since.

Never needed them and I hopefully never will (Maybe just for schematics).

I have been playing for 28 years and used Mesa/Boogie and Fender amps. I played in various bands ranging from Rock, Blues, Country and at one time hard rock and old metal. I would love to find a second one for a backup or use them simultaneously for other various options. The simple ease of use by just tweaking one knob on most settings have made this unit easy for me to use and gave me the preamp sound I was seeking.

I was able to get 3 great tones within 15 to 30 minutes of hooking it up. I will play with it more and see what I can come up with. I am impressed.

I am play a Hamer Studio with Duncan and PRS humbuckers. Great rock, blues, and my form of jazz tones. It cleans up pretty nice on the clean channel. I play somewhere between The Doobie Brothers and Santana. Haven't tried it with effects yet, but I have a bootie of them to mess with. I am playing it thorugh a late 60s Oliver B200 tube bass head. I run it into a Mesa/Boogie 1x12 cab. Sweet!!

Only had it a day, so I don't know. I always gig with backup because I usually buy used stuff, its cheaper you know.

I have dealt with Marshall before. I a Mosfet Lead 100 with 4x10 cab and they provided a manual and support at no charge. I suspect they will be as helpful as before.

I play Christian rock and praise & worship and it is a great addition to my arsenal of amps and effects. I can't wait to try it with my old Vox. I've been playing for 30 years. If I had to replace it, I would look for another. I do wish the eq wasn't shared eq, but I can live with that. I'm not that picky. It is very musical, it may inspire improvement in my playing and ability.

its a little rough to get a crisp low crunch out of the 9001 pre amp

the 9001 pre amp is ok, but just like the rest of the people that use it it just doesnt have a good bottom end crisp crunch. you can turn the hi mid and the low mid and the plain mids all the way off and give some base and some treble and it sounds better. i use a dod (metal x) pedal with it use the pedal on the clean chanel and you will have unbeleivable crunch oh nice and crisp and low that will bust you ribs not muddy at all, but that metal x peadal is what does it, i wish i had another pedal. but anyway it does the job with the preamp.

take care of the tubes and it will last ya a long time

i havnt had to deal with them yet but i here there awful.

i play stuff like bush,nickle back,stp and so on. ive been playing 22 years. if i lost this preamp i woulnt get another.

I have used this amp in cover bands for about 12 years,its been pretty user friendy,it has knobs,how easy can it be ,turn the knobs till the sound is right to your ear,if you cant do that, develop and ear.!it has two channels to change from a rythm or lead channel,use your volume knob on your guitar for the rest,its just that simple.
I use this preamp to cover a wide range of different bands,I use three differnt guitars,and a digitech effects unit,split stereo to a tube poweramp,and this makes for overall ease of use,no midi stuff to learn,just one pedal to switch into lead,and you can set the lead channel to be mild or ugly,I wouldnt be comfortable with anything to complicated,but the 9001 preamps are oldschool units and they do have there own sound and limitations,its the right preamp for my situation ,but it might not be for yours.

If your reading all these opinions,good for you ,you need to find your tone!!I use this in an all rack format,goes like this,9001 preamp to a peavey 60/60 all tube poweramp,then a digitech 256XL loops though the fxloop,I dont have a noise problem,and I only use one preset on the effects,I get my color change from switching between 3 different guitars,I have sided up this amp to many a guitar slingers with everything from Line6 modleing amps to real marshalls,I gotta tell ya it stands its ground quite well,in fact 8 out of 10 gigs I play,buy the end of the 1st set I have guitar players in the crowd commimg up and asking what Im playing through.I use a midrange chours setting in true stereo,with about 100 milsec,of delay left to right and alittle cut to the mid section on eq,into a marshall 1960 slant cab that has the mono or stereo swicth in the back ,Our cover band covers classic to newer alterative stuff so with a single coil guitar in line I can play the goo dolls or with a humbucker guitar in line I can play Judist Priest,so it covers all the stuff I need it to
If your trying to play the real heavey stuff it just wont get you there,you will need another preamp with double the gain,but if your looking for a mashall tone its all there,my only complaint with the 9001 is that I could use a little more gain from the rythm channel,the lead channel you can make so distored that it can be
almost mushy,if you get it to that point it will require eq adjustment.

Use this preamp for the last 12 years,somtimes 3and 4 nights a week,I retube it once a year,and beat it up the rest of the year,no break downs and have had no need for a backup once,and we play 3 to 4 hours per gig.per night

I have never had to venture into a repair or the need for tech help
I dont think there are any upgrades that are avalible,but if hepl is needed do to the age of these units you might be in best shape to start at the internet.

I mainly play rock,I have been playing for 25 years the 9001 is my main tone and if it were ripped off I would probly seek out another one.I love the fact that its all tube and that it has real tube tone,what I hate is that its rack.Seems like Marshall could have put out a head that sounds like this thing,I love that fact that its got knobs,I hate having to be a computer greek to figure out how a guitar amp works,this things easy,I worked at a music store when I bought it and I was able to compare it to several preamps over time ,ada,Kasha rock mod,halfer,tube works,art stuff,digitech stuff,Rocktron,and It just stood out to my ear,it had a more likable tone to me,so I got it.
As I said in the other comments I do wish it had a touch more gian in the rythm channel but thas it,It wont clean up 100% if your needing a Fender clean,dont ask for it,but it does clean up enough and it does encourage my playing.

easy layout, what you would normally expect for a marshall unit, not so easy trying to dial in a good sound

i run this thru my 8008 poweramp, used it with a variety of guitars, this is the worst amp i have ever played. i suppose it depends really what you play though, i play in an emo band and it just doesn't work for me, the lead channel is just mud, you can clean it up with the e.q. but due to it being shared it makes the clean channel sound aweful, the distortion is nice and heavy and have a nice valve sound and you can get some nice feedback, but trying to hear single notes within is impossible, playing on my mates zoom 505 you can get a better sound, the clean sound is alright can be quite warm but the lead channel just lets it down, and the shared eq is pointless as as soon as you make one channel sound good the other sounds bad, i regret getting rid of my 8100 valvestate head, that had a much tighter more defined lead sound, and you could actually get more than one useable sound out of it, i'm sorry but this unit is awefull, i am getting shot of it and getting a jmp-1

blew it up trying to make a footswitch, that was easily fixed, dropped it and the crunch channel stoped working which i don't use any way. but before that it had a problem with the power trasformer being lose, but easily fixed

no wonder they got rid of these and bought out the jmp-1, just don't buy one, its a disgrace to the marshall sound, if it were stolen i would probabally be happy

i have got a fender strat usa, and to have a good sound you have to take your time to find the good sound, it's hard to give a sound notation because it's a rack preamp and people use it with so many differente rack... the sound of this type of installation is differente from each personn.
But i like it......... i ofen use a wahwah (dunlop 95) may be when i m using wahwah the sound is to high but i have to work my sound.

I don't know many thing about this preamp, it seem that marshall had complletly forget it..... but as i m concern to this product i like it the clean sound is goog and had the marshall color.
3 channel considere like one clean one overdrive and un hard distortion; I play funk rock.

i use a marshall 8080 wtih it but i wil buy a tube el5050 to have a complete tube sound.
So i have got effect with midi verb4, and it will be better if 9001 coold work with midi command like JMP1.....
I don't have foot swihtch with my 9001 but i made one with a 3 channel uarshall footswitch, i use only 3 channel because loop activation don't interest me (i have a bypass on my midiverb).
so reliability is prety good

sa i ever say, i ask if marshall know that thay have contruct this product!! i m french and there are no many 9001 in france.....

may be i will buy a JMP1 but Marshall had stop the fabrication.... but i m sure to keep it in my rack!